Shek O

From Big Wave Bay it is only a few minutes walk along the Shek O Golf Course to reach the small village of Shek O at the southern coast of the Hong Kong Island – or if you are coming from somewhere else, then bus route 9 from Shau Kei Wan is your best bet. Of course, you can also take a red minibus or taking a taxi, but I would not recommend to take your own car as parking is really a big problem at the “rocky bay”.

Shek O is a small village, which used to be populated by fishermen. Because of its sandy public beach it has become a very popular weekend and holiday destination, offering a public barbecue area and many restaurants. The rocky cliffs provide an excellent place for sports climbing – and there is also a blue bridge that often acts as the backdrop for photo shoots. In addition, you can play mini golf, rent bicycles and from Dragon’s Back , the 280m-high ridge to the west of the village, there’s even paragliding and abseiling. So there’s much to do and see – and unfortunately this means that Shek O gets crazy busy during weekends, especially in the summer! So if you can, visit during a week day!

If you want to find out the top 20 things about why Shek O is great, check out this blog post by the Southside Magazin.

The first thing you notice is the roundabout above – that seems to be the heart of Shek O. At least, that’s where the public transport stops and you can decide whether to walk to the main beach, or whether to take a break at one of the numerous restaurants, cafes and bars. Or maybe you want to stock up on beach equipment?

Some of the popular restaurants include the Shek O Chinese & Thai restaurant, which serves good Thai food (it’s not the best Thai, there are better ones in Wan Chai – but after a hike this restaurant is often a popular choice!), the Black Sheep and our favourite coffee and breakfast spot: Ming’s Cafe (unfortunately it closes at 4pm, so you have to hike earlier in the day to replenish your energy levels at Ming’s). If you want to splurge, you can also enjoy French/Western food at Cococabana, overlooking the beach.

At the roundabout, if you walk left and follow the street, you come to a quieter area. That’s where the people of Shek O live – in colorful village houses. Some are bigger, some are smaller. Others are older, others are newer.

Bama wrote a great blog post about Shek O – in much more detail than I did. There are some great shots of the different houses and all the little details on the way to Shek O on his blog, so head over to read more on harindabama.com.

Following that small village road, you arrive at an area of big posh houses – keep walking. If you stay on your right, you come to the dead end of the Shek O Headland Road. To your left is a big massive house which features some Chinese temple elements – and even if it does not look that way, keep walking and at the left side of the building is a staircase that leads to the blue bridge.

Apparently the bridge is called Lover’s Bridge, because it is so narrow that it can only allow two persons to pass at a time.

The blue bridge leads you to Tai Tau Chau, an island that is full of rugged granites and rocky cliffs – a paradise for rock climbing in Hong Kong.

I have not yet explored Tai Tau Chau – it was a hot and sunny day when I visited Shek O, so I just walked a few metres to look back over the mainland. Maybe next time, when it is not as hot, I’ll explore further. In the meantime, check out this blog post that features views from Tai Tau Chau on KenWalkWillTravel.com.